artjrk

The two packs my sons have been associated with have elected to honor those Webelos receiving AoL at the B&G in February. They go on to honor all the Webelos in the 5th grade in celebration of their years in Cub Scouts. Both packs participate in a District Crossover ceremony involving about 25 packs in March. Not all Pack in the district do this cause I know I need to go to two other Packs to welcome new boys that are crossing over in their own Pack ceremonies to our Troop.

I don't know if I would call the actions of the Council a "Good Deed". It seems it was more a business opportunity. If on the other hand, the additional police officers were to pay for their lodging out of pocket, then I would call it a Good Deed and not take reimbursement.

The differences between the old and centenial shirts and pants have been hashed out here in detail. These include difference in material, the cut, size and type of pockets. For instance the centenial pants are longer in the inseem to the zip off part. This allows for a larger cargo pocket, one that is large enough now for the scout handbook. My only problem with that is the zipper is right below the knee and when I kneel down my knee fall right on the zipper. But I have learned to cinch my pants up when I kneel now.

Bears at age 11? The average age for Bear is 8-9. I can see a scout in the latter part of Webelos being 11 and still being chartered though. I don't know an official answer though.

Two trick to keep the slide from coming off. 1. Use a rubber band to hold the necker together, then slide the slide to a point above the band. 2. Then pinch the metal "arms" of the slide in thus squeezing it against the necker. With this combination, we have not lost a single slide. We are on our third Cub Scout now.

Let's count: 1. Above the left pocket 2. Ring around the World Brotherhood of Scouting patch 3. On the rank badge Why do we need to spell "Boy Scouts of America" 3 times on the front of the shirt? As a designer who appreciates selling the "Brand", I don't appreciate this.

Having been thru the roles of ADL=>DL=>WDL=>ASM=>SM, I know there are not dumb questions. Dumb answers maybe, but not dumb questions. You do not want to be a AoL mill. That's good. Your job is to make it available not to make them get it. I would suggest that you make a 18 month schedule that allows the Web Scout to reach that goal. Not to wait for the second part of their Webelos experience to crank it out. Also if you can get in contact with a Troop in the area. I'm sure they will be able to help you know what to teach you kids for the transition. Also they will most likely be be willing to help with activities. Its a great learning opportunity for the Webs and a great outreach, recuiting opportunity for the troop.

I can't find anything on the other "prayer" sign. Closest I could come up with was the "Dynasty" sign where the fingers and thumbs create a diamond shape.

There are a couple of meanings to the hand sign you described. The tradition vertical peace sign (palms facing the viewer meaning "peace to you and the world" In the UK, (from what I understand) the the reverse, vertical peace sign (knuckles facing the viewer) means "up yours" The story goes back to the Battle of Argincort when the French said they would cut of the shooting fingers of the British Longbowmen. Well the British won and their archers showed the french that they still had their fingers. Not in a friendly manner. In the US we use the single middle finger extended. The horizontal reverse peace sign, gained popularity from Rap and "Gangsta" musicians as a hip way to say "Peace" or "Peace Out". Today many youth in a way to show their "hipness' use the the horizontal reverse Peace Sign. This is the same for the "Rocker" sign (fingers enclosed with the thumb and pinky extended. I don't think the kids are trying to get away with something as they just wanna show their "coolness"

From my understanding, this would be the same for Merit Badges and Rank Advancement. Once a scout has started the process, he continues with the original requirements until finished. The thing for Rank is it is only good for that current rank. Work towards a Future rank (ie items for First Class when only Tenderfoot) may or may not count.

As I stated in the other similar thread. The time frame for being active for rank advancement is the same as the time frame for the POR for advancement. If a scout fulfills the requirement for the POR he most likely had to be "active" in the troop (aside from Den Chief).

Honestly, I don't get bent over the requirement and Active=registered. Considering the active requirment is the same time period as the POR requirement, I just focus on seeing if the scout is active enough to fulfill his duties for the POR. These responsibilities are laid out in the handbooks. I ask myself: Does he get the job done? Am I constantly wondering where is he? Why is someone else doing his job? If in the end, he has fulfilled his POR requirements then he must have been active in the troop.

We have a unique opportunity to have our boys featured in an article for Boys Life demonstrating cooking with a reflector oven. We have some basic ideas of items to cook, Biscuits, Cornbread, Brownies (for me) and pan pizza. Does any one have any other cool ideas?

I use email and Facebook as ways to reach my scouts. Its a form of communication that I know will reach them between meetings. I do not see any difference between these and calling the scout on the phone. As far as youth protection I think the leader is safer hear because the communications are in writing and both parties have a copy. If you have worries go ahead and copy the parents as well.

About 8 years ago a Rental company had hundreds of tents used one time for some event and then sold them for 7$ each. Our Troop bought about 30-40 since it was such a good deal. They are not the "best" but are decent enough if put up correctly. They are used mostly by the first years until they end up getting their own. We have seen that the boys take better care of the tent when they own it themselves. We are down to about 7-9 of these tents due to broken poles or disrepair. They are good to have as emergency backups as well.

Hal I haven't heard anything about this at my end. But your latest interpretation sounds very plausible. BTW my son was one of those kids who did T-2-1 all at once. He had signed up for a conference in the Fall after camp for T-2 ( three years ago before I became SM) He was part of a large group of new 1st years. By the time the SM got around to him, a matter of 2 months, he had finished 1st Class as well. Interestingly enough after reaching 1st Class in just a matter of months, he has not advanced another rank. But he is quite active, held several PoRs because he sees a need. He just doesn't care for MBs. I'm fine with that BTW.

Updated information concerning WFA for Philmont and Northern Tier. My friend at the Center for Wilderness Safety has let me know the following: According to the National HQ of the Boy Scouts of America, BSA published new guidelines in August 2009 establishing a new standard for Adult Leaders requiring Wilderness First Aid (WFA) training. This new requirement goes into full effect on March 1, 2010. All crews going to Philmont Backpacking Treks or Northern Tier Canoe expeditions will be required to have at least one crew member with an up to date "Wilderness First Aid" credential. If the training was received prior to March 1, 2010, nearly any up to date WFA training credential will be accepted. However, any training conducted after March 1, 2010 for the purposes of receiving a "Wilderness First Aid" credential to meet the requirements of Philmont or Northern Tier must be conducted according to these new WFA-BSA guidelines. One of the specifications of the new guidelines is that the topics covered must meet the guidelines curriculum with no omissions or inclusions. So, only a course specifically tailored to meet these guidelines will qualify. Requirements: Participants must be at least 14+ years old. Participants must have adult CPR and AED certification He also added that the newest news is the WFA-BSA training will be required for Star Scouts starting in 2014. Some background. Cliff Castleman, who founded the Center for Wilderness Training, is a former DE for the Powhatan District in the National Capital Area Council. This is why I tend to listen to his updates.

The last time I can remember a meeting being devoted to a merit badge was two years ago. The school (where we normally meet) was closed so we met at the police station and all took the fingerprinting merit badge. The officer also had another presentation for the boys. But that is it for merit badges during meetings in my 5+ years there. Occasionally we will have a MB class prior to a meeting for those working on the same MB.

Unfortunately that would cover just one project. With approx 90 Eagle scout projects in our 17 year history. That's a lot of repeat maintenance to cover. Also the Troop has already "adopted" a local park. Now to tie this back into the original thread. Perhaps the union could see the creation of additional trails to maintain as a blessing. Giving them more work to justify less layoffs.

From reading all the comments and rereading the original post. Now of course the only source of real information is the OP and the article linked. It sounds like the Scout had a good idea in mind for a project. He saw a need for a connector between two existing trails. This being the case, then yes a good project. My reason for asking about the appropriateness of the Eagle Project is that the article only mentions that the Scout himself logged 200+ hours over several weeks. Only he is mentioned as doing any work. My original question was why he was doing it all alone, thus where was the leadership. But even now as I read this the math doesn't add up and he must have been getting help. Following up on another posters comment. I too am bothered by projects that seem fleeting and deteriorate from neglect. We just had a Scout renovate a courtyard at the High School. The same courtyard that was renovated by an earlier Eagle Project about 4 yrs ago. It just makes me wonder.

On topic: Though I do not participate in a union and find some of their actions unnecessary. I do see where this particular union has valid points. If they are the only section of local government being laid off that can make perception look bad. On a side note: This scout has spent over 200 personal hours clearing (blazing) a trail as work toward his Eagle Badge. How is this a Eagle project? Where is the leadership involved?

We did this last year when we invited the Webelos out to our campout. It went over great. In fact we are doing it again in two weeks. The only thing we did different from whats posted is we created a walking trail where the scout walked the path and had to hit the targets as he came upon them. This was similar to an archery trail the boys did at Summer Camp one year.

I found the Brand Identity Guide for the BSA. http://www.markmanual.com/boy-scouts-of-america-2009/ Unfortunately it does not contain the green or Khaki.

Splitting can be successful. Ours is a case in point. At one time there was Troop 157. It was successful and grew. They decided to split off a group of scouts and formed Troop 1570 (my current troop) back in 1992. 157 continued to succeed and they did it again, Troop 1577.(late 90's) Currently all three troops are succeeding, two with membership just over 50 boys with the newest one closer to 100. In town there are two other troops and several others on the edges. Living in the suburbs of DC helps. All these kids go to the same high school so Camporees are great in that we know everybody. One downside could be competion in recruiting. But the other two SM's are in agreement with me. We don't care so much which Troop a Webelos crosses over to, just as long as he does. All the local programs are good.

Stosh Of course everyone was on the tractor but him. He was pushed off. ouch.